The Lost Memories of a Kuniochi
by Rin's Lantern
Summary: Ino, after attempting to save her father's life, loses her memories and forgets about her love for Shikamaru. How does he take the news? Will Shikamaru gain Ino's love once again? WARNING! Eventual lemons!
1. Chapter 1 A New Jutsu

A warm breeze flowed over the village signifying the beginnings of another spring. She loved this time of year; the thousands of trees would blossom, flowers would reveal their beautifully marked velvet petals, and her family shop would finally reopen to the masses of Konoha.

"Yup, this is the life." Ino let out a contented sigh. "This winter has been a long one, that's for sure." She couldn't stand winter. Nothing grew! Everything was so desolate and dreary during the long, cold months. Although some found the pure white landscape beautiful, it only filled her with despair.

She was especially excited for the upcoming fireworks festival this year. She had heard quite a few rumors that her teammate, Shikamaru, would finally profess his love to her during the celebration. Of course she returned his feelings, but she couldn't help feel a little nervous. Not to say she hadn't had her fair share of men before, but Shikamaru was different. That difference was love.

Ino had never felt so attracted to anybody before. This attraction ran deeper than just physical appearances. Yes, he thought her troublesome and loudmouthed, but Ino didn't miss the smile that graced his features when she walked beside him. She felt a smile of her own form on her lips just thinking about him. His deep brown eyes…and the way he smelled…god he smelled good!

"Ino!" Her father, Inoichi, called from the lower level of the family flower shop.

Ino, startled out of her daydreaming, uttered a hasty "Coming!" and rushed down the stairs.

She had never seen the basement so disorganized. "Dad! What have you been doing down here?!" Ino accusingly pointed her finger at the mess. Her mother always kept the basement spotless, but now it was littered with ancient looking scrolls.

"I think I found a new mind body technique when I was in the basement." Inoichi had an excited grin on his face. Ino's father had always been a bit eccentric, but this was going a little far.

"Dad, we are IN the basement! And I've never seen these old scrolls down here before!"

"No the basement under this level. You know, the storage room?" Inoichi rapped his knuckles on the floor to emphasize his point.

"And you were planning on telling me this when?!" She couldn't help but feel a little hurt that her parents hadn't told her about this 'new' basement. She only lived there for 19 years for heaven's sake!

Inoichi was clearly getting frustrated. "Never mind that, now come look at this."

"Fine. But I want you to know that I'm offended." Ino answered with a huff. She wasn't that annoyed, really, but she just wanted to prove her point.

"Now, as I'm sure you remember the two mind body techniques I taught you?" Ino answered with a nod. "Good, because it appears there was a sister technique to complete the trio."

Ino was getting more than a little excited. The mind body switch technique had been exceedingly useful during her days as a genin. The more powerful sister technique to that, the mind body disturbance technique, had gotten her through a number of tough missions. "What's it called?"

Inoichi carefully traced his finger over the kanji. "The mind body split technique."

Ino's eyes went wide. "Can…can you teach me?" She didn't even know what the jutsu was supposed to do, but whatever it was, it must be powerful.

Inoichi was excited to finally teach his daughter a new jutsu. He was happy that his daughter was progressing to a point when she didn't need his help, but still…he missed those moments when her eyes would light up with a simple Genjutsu trick. "Alright lets see what we've got here."

************

"Wow…" Ino barely breathed the words.

"Wow is right."

The mind body split technique was truly amazing. Yes, it required a sizeable amount of chakra but the end result were more than worth it. Much like the mind body switch technique, the spirit would leave the body; however, that renders the body defenseless. The mind body split technique sends the spirit out to fight rather than the body.

This jutsu could win wars. Fighting the spirit is like trying to right a ghost; kunai can't cut a ghost, jutsu pass through without affect, and the spirit can see through Genjutsu. A virtually indestructible shinobi could be unleashed.

That is to say, it was not without repercussions. If preformed incorrectly you could be killed, or worse. If the user runs out of chakra while separated from the body, the spirit would simply vanish. Dying would be the preferred option.

"Ok, I'm ready. If anything goes wrong inject me with your chakra to stop the jutsu." Inoichi said. He was anxious to see if what the scrolls foretold were true.

"I'm ready when you are, dad."

"Here goes nothing." And with that Inoichi formed the needed hand signs and focused his chakra into the kanji written on the ground beneath him. He felt the beginning effects of the mind body switch technique, but only stronger. Much stronger. He felt his spirit start to separate, but the pain was beyond excruciating.

The torture didn't stop at just pain. His mouth had an awful metal taste, his ears were ringing with a horribly unpleasant sound, and he had the worst migraine of his entire life. Every one of his senses was overloaded with a tortuous pain.

"Dad! What's wrong?!" Ino watched in morbid fascination as her father writhed in pain. "Dad!" She had some experience as a medic nin. Given, she wasn't next in line for the title of master healer like her best friend, but she knew a thing or two when it came to healing.

Ino raised a glowing green palm to her father's forehead and started to search out the problem. She could tell by her father's increased heart rate that he would have a heart attack if she didn't stop whatever was causing the problem. Then she felt it. All throughout father's brain, the nerve endings were on fire. His sensory system was overloaded. And Ino knew she couldn't heal this.

Ino was beginning to panic. "Crap, crap, crap! What do I do?!" Inoichi was going into cardiac arrest when she had an idea. Maybe not the brightest one, but it was better than watching her father die a terribly painful death.

Forming the few necessary hand signs, she declared, "Mind body switch technique!"

And that was the last thing Ino remembered before passing out senseless on the floor.

Author's Note:

Ok so this is my first fanfic *loses nonexistent thousands of readers* and to tell you the truth, this was not my best writing! But I promise it'll get better! I basically just had to do this chapter so the story has a place to progress from. And yes, this is a Ino/Shika story even though they are not my favorite couple, I thought I would start with something easy.

A review would be VERY appreciated! If nothing else tell me if this story sucks so far! At least doing that is more helpful than doing nothing!


	2. Chapter 2 His Favorite Flower Shop

Chapter Two

His Favorite Flower Shop

The pleasantly sweet smell of spring washed over Shikamaru as he lazily strolled along the busy streets of Konoha. He had just finished a rigorous training session with Choji and was exhausted. He didn't even know why he was walking all the way out to the stupid flower shop when he could be laying in the grass sleeping the day away.

It was for her. "Damn." He said under his breath, "I've really got it bad." He used to be so content just being alone. He didn't have to worry about anybody but himself. Yes, he did worry about Choji sometimes, but not in the same way he agonized over Ino. How many times had he watched her get carried away by another man, to do heavens knows what in some godforsaken apartment? He couldn't even count on two hands the number of times she had drunkenly kissed another man. It drove him wild with jealousy. On more than one occasion Choji had had to step in to stop him from killing the lucky bastard who took her home.

Maybe that was why he loved her. To prove that he could get, and hold on to, the object that numerous shinobi desired. Was it only a challenge? No. It couldn't be. He never gave a damn about challenges anyways. But to get Ino was a challenge, and to be motivated enough to win this challenge would be against his very nature. She was just too beautiful for her own good.

Shikamaru let out an irritated sigh as he rounded the final corner on the way to his destination. He wondered how she would greet him today. Would it be a "Hi, Shikamaru! What can I do for you today?" or the "Hey! I haven't seen you in so long! How are you?" or maybe she would just smile and give him a small wave because she would be busy with another customer. He loved the way she smiled. The way her lusciously full lips would curve back revealing a perfect set of white teeth.

Shikamaru cleared his thoughts as he entered into the store. "Huh…weird." The store was completely empty. "The sign says open…" His shinobi instincts, which were by this time second nature to the jonin, were telling him something was wrong. "Ino!? Anybody home?" He called out. Part of him knew he wasn't going to get an answer.

He decided to check the upstairs. Maybe Ino was just taking an afternoon nap? He walked silently up the stairs; careful not to wake her if she was indeed sleeping. It was at this point that he realized he had never been inside Ino's room. He'd only seen it from the balcony outside when he had to wait for her while she packed for a mission. Shikamaru felt a twinge of excitement rush through him at the prospect of being inside her room.

He also felt a strong sense of self-disgust at the number of perverted thoughts that entered his mind. What would he do if he found Ino asleep in the afternoon sunshine? Or if he found a pair of her panties carelessly tossed on the floor? Shikamaru inwardly cursed himself for the many, many situations that played out in his head. If only Ino knew how crazy she made him!

Shikamaru climbed the final step soundlessly and made his way to a door that had "Ino's Room" painted decoratively across it. He felt a smile pass over his face at how ridiculous it was for a deadly kunoichi to be so childish. If he thought the door was ridiculous, the inside of her room was astounding. Shikamaru Nara had never once in his entire 19 years seen any room so utterly and completely GIRLY.

Where there wasn't purple, there was pink covering virtually every inch of Ino's room. Shikamaru couldn't hold back his laughter any longer. No matter how tough Ino may seem, deep down she really was a girly girl. And strangely, Shikamaru found that to be incredibly adorable. He let his eyes wander to a wall plastered with pictures of her family and old team 10. Temporarily forgetting why he came up to Ino's room, Shikamaru gazed at the pictures.

They brought back memories he wanted to forget. His old sensei, Asuma was a man he hadn't thought about for a long, long time. He felt guilty for not visiting his grave. But this was not the time to reflect on his old captain's death. Shikamaru, suddenly remembering why he came to Ino's room in the first place, retreated back to the lower level to continue his search for the girl.

He wasted no time searching the back rooms and the outdoor greenhouse. His brows were furrowed with worry when he realized the one room he hadn't searched: the basement. Shikamaru ripped the door from its hinges and bolted down the steps to see a heartbreaking image.

Ino was sprawled over the floor unconscious, laying over her father's dead body. For a moment Shikamaru couldn't breathe. She looked so…so lifeless. Her skin was a deadly white, and her breaths came in short, painful gasps. He swiftly made his way to Ino's side, careful not to ruin any of the scrolls scattered on the ground.

A small bit of relief overcame Shikamaru at the strength of Ino's pulse. She was still gasping for air, but she was far from dead. Shikamaru tenderly cradled Ino in his arms and started making his way up the stairs when he heard Ino mumble something.

Although her words were slurred, Shikamaru could've sworn he heard her say, "Please…help…me"

That was the only motivation he needed before sprinting her to the hospital.

Author's Note:

Yay! I got three reviews! Ok, that did sound a little lame, but I was hoping for maybe one and I got three! Lower expectations = never disappointed.

ANYWAYS! In all the reviews I give I always try to answer a question like, did the chapter flow well or I tell the author any changes I think would make the story better. SO! I want to ask you (the review-e (hopefully)) if you think this chapter went in too many directions, as in too many emotions. Generally it was sad, which is what I was going for, but it felt a bit rushed.

Thanks for reading and I promise to update soon!


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